Airtel defends its 'fastest network' claim against Reliance Jio's allegations
India's largest telecom company has come to its defence and is sticking to the claim of being the "fastest network".
- Mar 22, 2017,
- Updated Mar 22, 2017 11:37 AM IST
After Jio made serious allegations about network speed testcompany Ookla, colluding with Airtel to give the title of "officially thefastest network", India's largest telecom company has come to its defence and is sticking to the claim ofbeing the fastest network.
Jio had filed a complaint with the theAdvertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The bone of contention wasAirtel's use of the phrase "officially the fastest network" which,according to Reliance Jio was "misleading".
Airtel countered this allegation with a statement fromRajiv Mathrani, chief brand officer at Bharti Airtel. He stated, "ourlatest advertising campaign is based on the findings by Ookla... Ookla'sfindings are based on rigorous and extensive testing across millions ofdevices. We are rather amused by the allegations being made against ourcampaign. We believe that this is a deliberate attempt to malign our brand andmisguide customers through a campaign of misinformation, which is something wenow come across on a regular basis, in particular, on social media platforms."
Even Ookla defended Airtel's claim by backing them on thetitle of the fastest network. "We are always improving how additional informationis collected and analyzed through our Speedtest applications to allow Ookla toaccurately reflect internet performance. We have taken dual SIM informationinto consideration and fully stand behind Airtel being named India's FastestMobile Network," said Jamie Steven, COO at Ookla.
Jio had made allegations claiming that since there is nogovernment office awarding the title, it cannot be official. "The claim ofAirtel that it is India's fastest network is false, misleading and incorrect.This claim is being made by Airtel acting in a mala fide manner in collusionwith Ookla, LLC," Jio said in its complaint filed before The AdvertisingStandards Council of India (ASCI).
"This is clearly mentioned in the ad. Ookla's findingsare based on analysis of millions of internet speed tests logged on 'moderndevices' by mobile customers across India using its popular Speedtest app. Theresults include all mobile tests, regardless of connection technology,"the Airtel spokesperson said.
Reliance Jio claimed that the Ookla charges money for givingout such awards. The Mukesh Ambani-led company themselves got an offer from thespeed-test application in the same quarter when Bharti Airtel was awarded thetitle.
In a legal notice to Ookla, Jio said it was informed by thebroadband testing company that Jio's network was the fastest mobile network inIndia and can be given the tag of fastest network in India which Jio can useleveraging Ookla's brand but Ookla will "charge substantial sums of moneyfor this purpose and especially for publicly using the award and testresults".
"You purportedly issued a certificate dated February24, 2017 to Bharti Airtel...certifying their network to be India's fastestmobile carrier for the same period," Jio notice to Ookla said.
Jio has also found a fault with the methodology used byOokla, which attributes speed result to sim used in the primary slot of mobilephones even if Jio sim delivering high speed has been used in the secondaryslot.
The company claims that the use of the word"officially" is misleading as the title has not been given out by anygovernment body.
"The word "officially' when used in the context oftelecom services is linked to only Trai and DoT in the minds of general public.The use of this word deceives the telecom consumer into believing that thecertification is from the the telecom regulator namely Trai or the licensornamely DoT," Jio said.
After Jio made serious allegations about network speed testcompany Ookla, colluding with Airtel to give the title of "officially thefastest network", India's largest telecom company has come to its defence and is sticking to the claim ofbeing the fastest network.
Jio had filed a complaint with the theAdvertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The bone of contention wasAirtel's use of the phrase "officially the fastest network" which,according to Reliance Jio was "misleading".
Airtel countered this allegation with a statement fromRajiv Mathrani, chief brand officer at Bharti Airtel. He stated, "ourlatest advertising campaign is based on the findings by Ookla... Ookla'sfindings are based on rigorous and extensive testing across millions ofdevices. We are rather amused by the allegations being made against ourcampaign. We believe that this is a deliberate attempt to malign our brand andmisguide customers through a campaign of misinformation, which is something wenow come across on a regular basis, in particular, on social media platforms."
Even Ookla defended Airtel's claim by backing them on thetitle of the fastest network. "We are always improving how additional informationis collected and analyzed through our Speedtest applications to allow Ookla toaccurately reflect internet performance. We have taken dual SIM informationinto consideration and fully stand behind Airtel being named India's FastestMobile Network," said Jamie Steven, COO at Ookla.
Jio had made allegations claiming that since there is nogovernment office awarding the title, it cannot be official. "The claim ofAirtel that it is India's fastest network is false, misleading and incorrect.This claim is being made by Airtel acting in a mala fide manner in collusionwith Ookla, LLC," Jio said in its complaint filed before The AdvertisingStandards Council of India (ASCI).
"This is clearly mentioned in the ad. Ookla's findingsare based on analysis of millions of internet speed tests logged on 'moderndevices' by mobile customers across India using its popular Speedtest app. Theresults include all mobile tests, regardless of connection technology,"the Airtel spokesperson said.
Reliance Jio claimed that the Ookla charges money for givingout such awards. The Mukesh Ambani-led company themselves got an offer from thespeed-test application in the same quarter when Bharti Airtel was awarded thetitle.
In a legal notice to Ookla, Jio said it was informed by thebroadband testing company that Jio's network was the fastest mobile network inIndia and can be given the tag of fastest network in India which Jio can useleveraging Ookla's brand but Ookla will "charge substantial sums of moneyfor this purpose and especially for publicly using the award and testresults".
"You purportedly issued a certificate dated February24, 2017 to Bharti Airtel...certifying their network to be India's fastestmobile carrier for the same period," Jio notice to Ookla said.
Jio has also found a fault with the methodology used byOokla, which attributes speed result to sim used in the primary slot of mobilephones even if Jio sim delivering high speed has been used in the secondaryslot.
The company claims that the use of the word"officially" is misleading as the title has not been given out by anygovernment body.
"The word "officially' when used in the context oftelecom services is linked to only Trai and DoT in the minds of general public.The use of this word deceives the telecom consumer into believing that thecertification is from the the telecom regulator namely Trai or the licensornamely DoT," Jio said.